1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compact bank note dispensing device that can assist in eliminating an erroneous duplication of the release of bank notes from a stack of bank notes. More specifically, the present invention provides a novel mechanical structure that limits dispensing of a bank note or sheet by effectively sorting and aligning the lowermost sheets to predispose them for one-by-one dispensing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bank note dispensing devices for vending machines, ATM machines, gaming machines and other devices are known in the art. Japanese Laid Open Patent Application 2001-67527 represents one example and the schematic form of that disclosure is set forth in FIG. 5. As shown in FIG. 5, a guide structure 101 has a step-like configuration adjacent a feed roller 102 and a gate roller 103. The surface configuration of the guide 101 has a slanting surface 105 which is directed downward and towards the sheet transporting direction. The guide 101 is further spaced away from a transporting track 104 by a distance of approximately the thickness of a few sheets. When the bank notes are transported to the feed roller 102 and the gate roller 103 by the action of the kick roller 106, an upper bank note 109 in the stack of bank notes can be also transported with the lowest bank note 108 when it has contact with the kick roller 106. A large portion of the moved or transported bank notes, however, are stopped by the wall 107 and also are further stopped by the slanting surface 105. Thus, theoretically, only the bank note that has contact with the kick roller 106 will pass through and be let off by the feed roller 102 and the gate roller 103.
The utilization of the slanting surface in this arrangement requires two parallel sections to extend horizontally along with the slanting surface. Combining the two parallel sections with the feed roller and the gate roller located at the bank note exit position requires additional size for such a bank note dispensing device. Additionally, the feed roller and the gate roller must be located at this parallel section which increases the cost.
Thus, while there have been numerous attempts to address the problem of accurately dispensing a bank note on a one-by-one basis, the prior art is still seeking an efficient and economical solution to this problem.